Oral cavity cancers
During each of your recall examinations, the dentist and the hygienist, in addition to checking the condition of your teeth and gums, carefully inspect the mucous membranes of your mouth in search of suspicious lesions.
Oral cancers rank 9th among all cancers in men and 15th in women. Men over 60 are the most affected, but these tumors spare no one. More than 95% of malignant tumors of the oral cavity are squamous cell carcinomas (although melanomas, bone tumors, salivary gland tumors, etc. can be found more rarely).
Possible symptoms:
- Sores on the lip or in the mouth
- Growth on the lip, in the mouth or throat
- Red or white patch on the gums, tongue, or lip margins
- Unusual bleeding, numbness of the tongue, lip, or facial skin
- A change in voice, hoarseness, discomfort, or a feeling of something blocking your throat
- Difficult or painful chewing or swallowing
- A swelling of the cheek, the gum that interferes with the wearing of a dental prosthesis
ear pain
Risk factors
The risk factors for these cancers are tobacco and alcohol consumption, the human papillomavirus (HPV) and prolonged exposure to the sun (for lip cancers). It is estimated that people who frequently consume alcohol AND tobacco are 22 times more likely to develop these tumours.
Additional risk factors:
- Bad nutrition
- Exposure to carcinogens at work or in the environment
The main types of oral cancers:
- Epithelial (squamous cell carcinoma 90% to 95%)
- Glandular (adenocarcinoma)
- Mesenchymal (sarcoma)
- Hematological malignancy (leukemia or lymphoma)
Oral cancer screening
Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity can present in various ways: a red and/or white spot, an ulcer that persists for more than 14 days, a hard mass, etc. They are found everywhere in the mouth, most frequently on the lip, on and under the tongue, on the palate and more rarely on the gums and in the cheek. Screening by the dentist is essential, because he can detect lesions in their pre-malignant stage or in the beginning of the malignant lesion. The chances of survival after treatment are then very high. However, the further the lesion progresses, the lower the chances of survival (9% survival rate 5 years after diagnosis for a very advanced stage IV carcinoma.)
What the dentist is looking for:
- Leukoplakia (white), erythroplastic (red) or erythroleukoplakia (mixed; white and red) lesion
- Ulcer chronic (more than 14 days), budding, hard with a raised rim
- Protruding and budding mass
- Burrowing lesion with a raised rim
A doubt or concern
If you have any doubts or concerns about a lesion in your mouth, the best person to consult is your dentist. He will be happy to examine your mucous membranes and take care of an injury that requires it. Do not forget to visit it at 6 months, because most of the time the oral tumors are painless and the patients affected are not aware of them. Finally, even if bone tumors are rarer in the mouth, it is important that your dentist take a panoramic X-ray (the one that allows you to see the whole mouth) every 5 years (or more frequently for people at risk).
